Fusterlandia 3. Two in one. is a photograph by Viktor Birkus which was uploaded on July 26th, 2017.
Fusterlandia 3. Two in one.
Cuban artist José Fuster’s art is “naïve,” meaning he uses childlike crude shapes and bright colors in his untrained composition. His work... more
Title
Fusterlandia 3. Two in one.
Artist
Viktor Birkus
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Cuban artist José Fuster’s art is “naïve,” meaning he uses childlike crude shapes and bright colors in his untrained composition. His work has been compared to that of Picasso, a comparison that followed him in successful gallery tours across Europe.
After one such tour, Fuster was struck with a desire to recreate something like Gaudi’s public works in Barcelona and Brâncuși’s across Romania in his own homeland. He wanted to put his artistic reality into his real-world surroundings, and he began in his own neighborhood.
In 1975, after moving into a modest wood house in the rundown neighborhood of Jaimanitas outside Havana, Fuster set about decorating his studio in colorful mosaic. Once he was done there, he asked his neighbors if he could decorate their homes and business as well. A few accepted his offer and the tile creations grew. Over the course of a decade, doctors’ offices, bus stops, fountains, benches, gateways, and more were enveloped by Fuster’s whimsical imagination. Today, his artwork coats the neighborhood in a rainbow of strange, enchanting fantasy.
Jaimanitas was an economically depressed area before Fuster arrived, and now it has turned into an artist’s paradise. Tourists are bussed into the neighborhood to admire Fuster’s still-growing kingdom, which has spawned a new generation of artists inspired by the surroundings they came up in.
Uploaded
July 26th, 2017
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Comments (19)
Hanne Lore Koehler
Congratulations, Viktor, on your FUNNY VALENTINE CARDS contest win with this wonderful sculpture capture! L/F
Ken Lerner
Viktor Thanks for reminding us photogs that part if what makes a great photo is simply finding a great "something" to capture -- here is a really simple shot that brings the beauty of this man's art directly to us -- no editorializing by the photog, no adjustments -- just presentation of something we could never have found on our own in a pure and direct way -- it's totally in keeping with Jose Fuster's art in the first place!! It's the total simplicity and sincerity of this shot that makes it great!